World of Chances
by noliekinz
Summary: Hermione decided she's not going to wait another moment for the love of her life to finally make up his mind. She needs to be loved and she needs it now. Inspired by the song World of Chances by Demi Lovato.


Friday afternoon, the last class of the day and Hermione was already dreading Potions. She was walking to Professor Slughorn's classroom alone because Harry and Ron had scheduled a last minute Quidditch practice to purposely get out of class.

She turned the corner and noticed that Draco Malfoy was leaning against the wall of the class entrance, he was smiling her way and she couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her cheeks. Draco had a gorgeous smile that made a lot of girls at Hogwarts go weak in the knees, Slytherin or not.

**You've got a face for a smile, you know.**

As the space between Draco and herself closed in, a giggle from a little ways behind her made her realize that he wasn't smiling at her after all. In her defense, she thought she was the only one walking down the corridor. Hermione turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder and saw Pansy Parkinson skipping towards Draco, her heart gave a slight tug as Pansy skipped passed Hermione and made her way right into Draco's arms.

**A shame you waste it when you're breaking me slowly.**

Hermione looked away in disappointment and slight embarrassment, but was caught in his gaze as she passed the hugging couple. Draco licked his lips and gifted Hermione with a his signature smirk and a wink.

**But I've got a world of chances for you,**

**I've got a world of chances for you.**

She returned a slight smile to him and her heart started pounding in her chest as he mouthed the words, "I'll see you tonight."

_Tonight_, she repeated in her head as she entered the Potions classroom.

Part of her was thrilled that she would be seeing him tonight, but she began to feel sick with the feeling of her heart sinking down to her stomach. Because although she wanted to see Draco, she knew that whatever they had needed to stop. She was tired of the emptiness their meetings left inside her chest.

**I've got a world of chances,**

**Chances that you're burning through.**

Potions seemed to go on for forever, causing Hermione to glance at her watch every now and then to discover that only a minute or two had passed by. She couldn't stop thinking about what would happen between herself and Draco tonight.

Would he tell her he loved her back tonight, her and only her? Or would she let him tell her that he loved her and Pansy both, as he did every other rendezvous?

_No_, she thought aloud in a faint whisper. Her eyes glazed over with tears that she would not let fall.

Hermione took out a small journal full of letters that she only wished she could give Draco and flipped to the very last page of parchment. With her favorite quill in hand and a fresh bottle of ink opened on her desk, she began writing out exactly how she felt about him, how she felt about Pansy and how she would no longer wait for him to make his choice.

**I've got a paper and pen,**

**I go to write you goodbye, and that's when I know.**

She wrote about the first time she told him she cared deeply for him and how she felt after he left her in the Room of Requirement in tears. She spent the night there, then avoided him for the next week until he couldn't take her cold shoulder any longer.

**I've got a world of chances for you.**

She wrote about the time he made her feel horrible for not letting him go further than snogging with her because she knew she wasn't ready and because she wanted her first time to be something special for her to remember. She wrote about how she really felt inside after she gave in to him and how used she felt when he left her in the Room of Requirement after it all because he forgot he was going to meet with Pansy that night too. She spent the night there, then avoided him for the next month until he absolutely coudn't take her cold shoulder any longer.

**I've got a world of chances for you.**

She wrote about this afternoon, just before class. How special she saw he treated Pansy and how unwanted that made her feel.

**I've got a world of chances,**

**Chances that you're burning through.**

"Hermione," she finally realized some had been tapping on her shoulder for the past couple of minutes. "Hermione, class is over."

Hermione shut her journal to make sure no one had seen the nap at the top of the parchment and looked over her shoulder to see Katie Bell and Katie's friend Leanne standing there with confused and somewhat concerned expressions on their faces.

"Sorry for keeping you two from enjoying the rest of the afternoon," she apologized and walked out of class leaving Katie and Leanne behind.

On her way back to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione hoped she wouldn't run into Draco, Pansy or any other Slytherin for that matter. She thought she would have made it until she approached the grand staircase where, unfortunately, Draco and his little gang were hanging out. She wanted to turn around and take the longer way back to Gryffindor tower, but he had seen her already so she decided to suck it up and just walk right on through.

**Oh, I'm going my own way.**

"Look at that untamed hair of hers, looks like a tumbleweed on her head," Pansy commented as Hermione made her way up the staircase, the group of Slytherins laughed as Pansy continued to mock her appearance. "Goes good with that hideous face of hers, doesn't it?"

**My faith has lost its strength again.**

Hermione stopped after she turned the corner and listened to all the distinct laughs of each Slytherin on the steps of the grand staircase, desperately hoping that she wouldn't hear one specific laugh, but instead he added to Pansy's insults, "Which would explain why Scarhead and his weasel sidekick abandoned her."

**Oh, it's been to hard to say,**

**We're falling off the edge again.**

A single tear beaded down Hermione's cheek as she continued to make her way to Gryffindor tower.

**We're at an end.**

**We're at an end.**

Hermione made her way to the Room of Requirement a few hours early that night, she felt like writing the rest of her letter there, where she would be alone until Draco showed up.

She wrote her final goodbyes to him

**Maybe you'll call me someday.**

She wrote about how she was tired of waiting around for him and how she refused to wait any longer, no matter how much t hurt her to leave him behind.

**Hear the operator say the number's no good and that,**

**She had a world of chances for you.**

She wrote about how she was sorry to be leaving him, but she needed to if she no longer wanted to feel empty inside.

**She had a world of chances for you.**

She needed someone to pay attention to her, some one to care for her just as much as he did for Pansy.

**She had a world of chances,**

**Chances you were burning through.**

She needed someone to love her back, someone to love her and show it just as he did for Pansy.

**Chances you were burning through.**

But what she really needed, what she wanted most in both her worlds, muggle and magical, was him: Draco Malfoy. She loved him, there was no doubt in her mind, body and soul that she loved him. And that was a problem.

**Chances you were burning through, oh.**

The clock in the Room of Requirement chimed ten times indicating that Draco would arrive in any minute. She folded her letter twice in half after signing farewell and kissed it, promising herself that once he walked in, she would hand him the letter and walk out.

Each tick of the clock seemed to grow louder and with each tick Hermione's heart began to race. A hundred and forty-three ticks later, she heard a door click open and close. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she stood up, letter in hand. She could feel his figure coming around the couch that she once sat on and she began to cry.

Before she knew it, he was embracing her as she sobbed into his shirt. She pushed away from him and tried to refrain from eye contact, but he forced her to look at him. He smiled at her, gifted her with a genuine Draco Malfoy smile.

She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling back and pinned the letter to his chest with her hand. He wore a mask of confusion and rejection while accepting her letter.

Hermione blinked once and left him standing there still holding her letter to his chest.

"Hermione?"

Hermione turned on her heal, tears now pouring from her eyes. She gave him a slight smile and motioned for him to stay where he was as he tried to inch towards her.

"**You've got a face for a smile, you know."**

She then left him standing alone in the Room of Requirement as she proceeded to walk out of it and more importantly, out of Draco Malfoy's life.


End file.
